Photograph by: REUTERS/Damir Sagolj

LONDON — They tried to get them to leave, to gently usher them through the front door and into the streets of east London. They really tried.

Volunteers tried to herd them, to keep them moving. A man in an elevated chair — like a lifeguard overseeing a sea of people — asked them to do the same, but with a megaphone in his hand. None of it worked, because the Irish were not ready to leave.

They crowded the hallway, the thousands of them, and they sang. They hugged, laughed and posed for pictures. There was a slight incline where the hallway met the main door to the massive building, and a lone figure stood there with his arms aloft in a "V," thrusting the Irish flag toward the ceiling.

It was chaos, ecstasy.

And it was all the result of a sport that was not even legal in England until 1996, and one that had only now awarded its first gold medals, at the London Olympics. The woman at the centre of it all was Katie Taylor, a 26-year-old from south of Dublin, who earned her country's first gold medal of the Games on Thursday, in women's boxing.

"Hopefully," she said, "some girl was watching on TV, and is aspiring to be an Olympic champion, or aspiring to be a medallist; that this is what they have to look forward to."

Taylor, a four-time world champion and five-time European champion, earned a narrow win over Russian Sofya Ochigava in the first women's lightweight title bout ever staged at an Olympics. Taylor emerged with a 10-8 decision, and any athlete in any sport would be fortunate to experience the reaction that decision triggered inside the ExCel arena.

Fans roared. They sang. They made the temporary metal stands shake when they stomped their feet. Someone threw Taylor an Irish flag as she headed toward the tunnel after the medal ceremony — as a volunteer was trying to usher her away from the floor — and she turned and ran around the ring, flag flapping in the wind, for a victory lap.

"We wanted everyone to see how great women's boxing was this week, and we wanted to show off to the world, and that's exactly what we did," Taylor said. "This is only the start for women's boxing. And I can't wait to see what the sport's going to be like in a few more years — and the next Olympics, as well, is going to be even better than this."

Women were invited to box at the Olympics three years ago, but only in three categories, as announced by the International Olympic Committee. The men fight in 10 categories.

"I've been really impressed with it," said Richie Woodhall, a retired British boxer who is working for the BBC. "There are a lot of people out there who have never seen women's boxing before, who have come here, and they definitely will have been surprised at the level, and the technique and the skill these girls are showing."

It was a modest field, with only 12 fighters in each weight class, and Woodhall conceded there were probably three or four fighters "who are in the deep end" in terms of skill level and readiness. (Canadian boxer Mary Spencer, a three-time world champion, was given a first-round bye, but lost in her first fight earlier this week.)

Woodhall said the British men's and women's teams train together in Sheffield, a town in northern England. And training with the men occasionally means sparring with the men, an experience that can provide valuable experience, he said.

"Obviously, our lads are told, 'you've just got to watch your power — but if they make a mistake, then you have to clip them," he said.

Lennox Lewis, the retired heavyweight champion, has already been sold on Taylor's skill in the ring, writing in a column for the BBC: "I think the guys should be watching their backs, she could beat a lot of them out there."

And Taylor will remain out there, as the flagbearer for her sport. She is also a skilled soccer player who has represented Ireland on the international stage, but she said she will remain in boxing — although a decision about whether to turn professional or stay in the hunt for another Olympic gold will be made in a few weeks.

Her hope is the same hope that has been voiced in Windsor, Ont., the base from which Spencer has helped raise the profile of the sport in Canada. Once girls discover they can box, and that they can go far in boxing, the hope is they will want to give boxing a try.

"One day, there will be a time when female boxers are going to be told: 'There was a day when guys competed in the Olympics and girls didn't, and they're not going to believe me — they're going to be like, 'are you kidding me?'" Spencer said with a smile after her loss earlier this week.

"And I am so thankful that day is going to come. It's going to be an awesome day when a girl doesn't believe me."